Denoon Law

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Record Detail

Archaeological notesNO34SE 1 3546 4440.
The grass-covered remains of a well-preserved, probably timber-laced fort. The plan is somewhat trapezoid, as dictated by the shape of the hill, the interior measuring axially a maximum of 370' in length by 220' in width, within a massive and lofty mound which stands to a height of 14' from the inside and is spread to 50' in width. The easiest approaches to the fort, from the NW and NE, are covered by the denuded remains of three very much slighter ramparts, and it must be questioned whether all are contemporary or whether the fort occupies an older site. On the face of it, the former alternative may seem the more probable.
No vitrified material has been found, but the size and proportion of the main ruin have little room for doubt that it must contain the remains of a timber-laced wall, which could be 30' thick or more.
The Statistical Account (OSA) notes traces of internal buildings, while Christison mentions hut circles cut into the terraces on the N and SE slopes.
OSA 1792; D Christison 1890; R W Feachem 1963.
This fort is generally as described. Only two of the three ramparts below the main fort are worthy of survey and there are at least three probable hut platforms (only one of which is surveyable) scooped into the rampart immediately below the main rampart on the N side. Within the fort are the foundations of at least five rectangular structures (three of which are open-ended), probably of a late period, and below the W end of the fort are traces of a stone wall along the edge of the rock face.
Resurveyed at 1:2500 scale.
Visited by OS (W D J) 16 January 1970.
This roughly trapezoidal fort occupies the summit of Denoon Law and measures 112m by 67m within a massive wall up to 8m thick and 5m high. The entrance is on the E, and the NW and NE flanks are protected by three low ramparts.
R W Feachem 1977; RCAHMS 1983.

Architectural notesN/A

Related material information

PHOTOGRAPHS

32139 (12/12/2001)Oblique aerial view of Denoon Law centred on the remains of a fort, taken from the WSW.

32139 (12/12/2001)Oblique aerial view of Denoon Law centred on the remains of a fort, taken from the NW.

32139 (12/12/2001)Oblique aerial view of Denoon Law centred on the remains of a fort, taken from the SW.

32139 (12/12/2001)Oblique aerial view of Denoon Law centred on the remains of a fort, taken from the WNW.

32139 (12/12/2001)Oblique aerial view of Denoon Law centred on the remains of a fort, taken from the NNE.

32139 (12/12/2001)Oblique aerial view of Denoon Law centred on the remains of a fort, taken from the S.

32139 (1976)

32139 (1966)Comparative plans of hillforts with timber-laced walls or ramparts in the NE province from Feachem in Rivet (ed) The Iron Age in N Britain.